VATICAN TAPS TECHNOLOGY TO PROMOTE JPII BEATIFICATION

The following comes from Zenit.org:

The Vatican is giving Pope John Paul II's beatification this May a high profile, tapping technology and vast archives to give as "great an exposure and as wide a coverage as possible."

A note today from the Vatican press office announced official YouTube and Facebook pages -- coming from Vatican Radio and the Vatican Television Center with the agreement of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

The pages present video clips on the pontificate year by year, as well as video clips with the Pope's voice in various languages and situations, on trips and in the Vatican.

"The general objective is to accompany the course of the beatification using the instruments technology makes available, making full use of the resources at our disposal and, at least in part, of the vast documentary archives held by Vatican Radio and the Vatican Television Center," the statement affirmed.

The new sites are in addition to the Vatican's already existing YouTube channel. The John Paul II channel will also be supplied with video clips of current events and information concerning the days of the beatification, the Vatican reported.

The same video clips are available at the Facebook page, where the number of fans is in the thousands and literally growing by the second.